1548, Europe, Johannes Stumpf
(Sebi Soltero)
This map is not like other maps, oddly it is supposed to be seen from an upside down perspective of Europe. Johannes Stumpf, born in Bruchsal, created the map. He studied there and became a chaplain in the order of the Knights Hospitaller. Later in his life he created maps with the help of his father-in-law’s manuscripts as a take off point. What he created with all of these manuscripts was a map of Europe. Its main purpose was for trade routes and of the general outline of Europe from a coastal perspective. This map is very odd because it has color and there are sea monsters drawn in the map. Back then there were myths of how sea monsters would eat sailors as they were passing through, and the purpose for drawing the sea monsters was to warn the sailors. The countries that are drawn are close to present day dimensions. If you look at Spain, the rivers seem to look like fingers going into the country. There are also mountains and trees drawn onto the landscape, so this map could be used for land routes or sea routes both for trading. The bias is that he draws Germany and the provinces as the center of the map. Since he is from Germany, the language of the map is German.
This map also has churches drawn on it, showing that this is a Catholic influenced map. Johannes Stumpf converted over to the Protestants in the 1520s. He drew this map when the Council of Trent was taking place and while many people all over Europe were converting to the Protestants.
1596, South America, Jan Huygen van Linschoten
(Charles Sybert)
Jan Huygen van Linschoten, a Dutch man who is the cartographer of this unique map, created this map of South America for Dutch colonizers. This was likely to help propagate Dutch colonialism, in order to convince them to venture out into South America to compete with Spanish colonizers. What is interesting about this map is that it depicts South America on a sideways view, rather than upright like we’re used to seeing. This is probably due to the fact that it was drawn from van Linschoten’s European perspective, where he would’ve sailed to the coast from the Atlantic. Argentina is not a part of this map, in addition to other portions of South America, because van Linschoten probably wanted to utilize the map for showing coastal ports, so that Dutch people coming from Amsterdam could sail to the ports. The inland is less detailed because it was not relevant to the Dutch explorers and colonizers, who only desired to venture near the coast. This fact, along with the European orientation of the map, show how eurocentric this map is. Another thing to note about the map is how unclear much of it, particularly the inland, is. Rather than exploring the continent for himself, van Linschoten most likely drew the map based on what the Spanish thought the continent looked like. The aestheticism of the map embellishes European colonialism of South America and Amsterdam’s mercantilist desires. There are also multiple languages used in the map, including Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, and van Linschoten’s native Dutch. The bottom right cartouche is in Dutch, while the top left one is in Latin. All Spanish countries are in Spanish, as well as seas named by them. The Portuguese colony of Brazil is in Portuguese. Latin is used for tropic lines, and other words on the ocean. Latin was used in the map since it was a common language throughout Europe, due to its relation with the Catholic Church. Aesthetically, the map has a clear coast and shows a multitude of ships sailing throughout the ocean, exemplifying the heavy amount of European exploration around the Americas. The inland is less detailed because it is more unknown. The supposed continent of Terra del Fuego is also depicted. Dutch colonialism became ever more eminent around this time, particularly as they were securing independence from the Spanish and trying to create an empire of their own. Although the only Dutch-speaking country in South America is now Suriname, the Dutch did have many colonies in North America, and even Asia like in the West Indies.
1486, The Eastern Mediterranean, Bernhard Breydenbach
(Matthew Coufal)
~ This map consists of the compilation of the five photos above; it has a very large horizontal diameter ~
The cartographer of this picturesque map is Bernhard Breydenbach, a German ecclesiastic who was stationed at a cathedral in western Germany. He and an accompanying artist, Erhard Reuwich, ventured throughout the Holy Land and along the Eastern Mediterranean coast from 1483 to 1484. This map signifies their pilgrimage to the Holy Land, as it intends to expose the glory and supreme importance of Christianity essentially to an entirely religious audience. That is, he crafted this meticulous piece for Catholics in particular, as he was a Catholic clergyman himself. This work of art was essentially a unique form of missionary work, as well, as it was precisely an aesthetic embellishment of the Christian Holy Land. Breydenbach was trying to invoke awe among his Catholic audience, for he disseminates considerably intricate topographical details all over the map. All script on the writing is in Latin, and even if I weren’t able to recognize that it’s Latin, I would still be able to infer that this is the case because of Catholicism’s ample role in this map and in the cartographer’s life as well. The distinctive tangible aspect of this map, being that the usually large scale is minimized to such an extreme extent, also coincides with the implied idea that the Holy Land is essentially the whole world to Christians. In other words, to Breydenbach’s audience, it’s all that’s worth seeing. I am just dumbfounded by the fact that this cartographer was able to compile a synthesis of all the Holy Land and places in Africa near the Eastern Mediterranean coast in a way that makes the whole map seem like one real place. Not only does it make sense that Breydenbach created this map because of the fact that he was Catholic, but it also makes sense because of the fact that he crafted the piece in a pre-Columbian date. If he had postponed his journey and instead had sought to make a map of some sort around ten years later, he might have been sucked into the tornado of cartographers jumping in on all the new job opportunities propagated by the opening of the New World to the Old World. Post-Columbian cartography rapidly pivoted to making maps of the New World as the focal point. Aside from Breydenbach’s flaunting of Christianity – as to imply that it is the paramount religion – a striking feature I encountered when observing this map fastidiously was that I actually noticed something very similar to the artistic essence of the Renaissance. When I observed the urban architecture of Jerusalem almost right in the middle of the map itself, I noticed that it was very geometrically balanced. For example, the temple in the center of the city has a hexagonal architecture at its base. In addition, the temple looks congruently spaced away from the rest of the city. This specifically appealed to me the most out of anything else displayed on the map. It exemplifies the abundant syncretism of Renaissance ideas and traditional Christian ideas. In addition, it foreshadows the syncretism between Old and New World ideas, which will soon come.
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